News

G&M Adds 3D Scanning Capability

5/29/2017 -

G&M is already known for its cutting-edge Revit use with the in-house development of our Mechanical Productivity Pack. When Bryn Johnston (Mechanical EIT) joined our Duluth office staff he brought with him 3D laser scanning experience. 3D laser scans of existing buildings and equipment can be processed and seamlessly brought into Revit as a point cloud (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Duct and equipment accurately modeled to as-built conditions using a 3D point cloud in Revit.

Bryn and Sam Marttinen recently scanned a section of an industrial client’s plant. They are now processing the scans to bring into Revit. Once the point clouds are in Revit, as-built modeling/viewing can be performed. From there, new ducts, pipe and equipment can be accurately routed and located without interfering with existing equipment. Time and again with this client, collisions and interferences have been avoided on a computer long before they happen in the field, saving the client money and also valuable downtime.

An example of an interference caught long before construction is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Example of duct accurately modeled to match point cloud, and new duct interfering with roof truss. The new duct was moved in the model prior to construction, saving time and money in the field.

The major benefit to our clients from using this technology is the efficiency and accuracy that we can achieve in documenting existing building and equipment conditions. Further uses for 3D scanning include creating demolition or as-built drawings or documenting historic structures where no plans exist.

This method of “field measurement” is much more efficient and ultimately, cheaper than a tape measure, paper, and photos.

We look forward to using our new technical capabilities on industrial, historic restoration and adaptive reuse projects.